


Summer breeze

by CaptainCiella



Category: Free!
Genre: Bromance, Comfort, Driving, Friendship, M/M, Stress Relief, Studying, Walks On The Beach, happy birthday nao 2020, natsunao, probs ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26127814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainCiella/pseuds/CaptainCiella
Summary: “Nao, you can talk to me, you know,” Natsuya mumbles, gazing at the ocean.Surprised at his offer, Nao smiles. He always knows he is the one he can talk to whatever happens but somehow, he never considered it.
Relationships: Kirishima Natsuya & Serizawa Nao, Kirishima Natsuya/Serizawa Nao
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Summer breeze

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Nao, I hope you'll get more screentime in 2021!! Can't wait to see you more!!

Nao is having a stressful month, finalising his dissertation he’s been working on for a few months. Making sure that everything flowed in a logical sense, making sure of being concise and paying attention to every sentence, especially to eventual typos. The last-minute changes during the final proofread are the most stressful, and he is fully focused — he takes breaks every forty-five minutes to rest and drink some tea but it takes him the night to make sure everything was on point before submitting it. He’s days away from the deadline but he prefers to submit it days before to avoid technical issues. And he does this ritual every day because when he wakes up, he remembers a typo or a point he hasn’t made clear.

  
  
Along with his dissertation, he coaches young adolescents in the swimming club next to his studio apartment. Coaching is supposedly a break when working on his dissertation; it relieves his stress and allows him to think about something else — but recently, one of his students injured themselves of training too much. It’s before a competition and that Nao stressed even more; he was exhausted of it but couldn’t sleep because of it and whenever he slept, he had a poor sleep he was more tired than before.  
  
Cooking is his escape when he can’t handle stress, when he can’t find inner peace; sometimes, he cooks at one in the morning, whether it’s pizzas, pancakes or bread — sometimes a whole lasagna, from the tomato sauce to the white béchamel sauce. He pulls all-nighters because of this but in the end, he forgets his stress and goes to sleep at six, the mind in peace, before waking up at nine, because of the said stress. At least _you’re eating healthily and that’s all that matters_ , Natsuya said to reassure him — Nao isn’t giving in comforting junk food whenever he feels downcast and for a student, he feels a little proud to be able to use cooking as a coping mechanism.  
  
The injured student recovers after a few days, but it still worries Nao that they participate in the coming competition; he repeats them to be careful and not push themselves too hard, even if he knows in the bottom of his heart that he’s certainly going do it; when it’s about passion, hurting becomes acceptable sometimes. Despite knowing this, Nao warns repeatedly about being injured again, not being able to practice for longer — it almost sounds like a threat, and it’s one _. For good_.  
He hopes for everything to go well so he can breathe for a moment before focusing on his dissertation again. Sometimes, he’s satisfied to the point of submitting it right away, before he gets disappointed without reason, which makes him proofread again for a few more days.  
  
He wakes earlier than when his stress was at its peak. He immediately switches on his laptop and opens his dissertation document before even making breakfast or having a cup of tea. He finds nothing wrong nor something he can rephrase — it seems okay, but it worries him; what if he misses important points to clarify or worse, his argument being not tangible at all.  
  
To make things worse, Natsuya texts him whether he is available this evening to hang out, soon after Nao comes back from coaching his students. He’s glad that at least, he texts before coming randomly to his flat then hang out, walking around the city or stay to cook something for him — he appreciates the thought, chatting a little bit helps him thinking about something else and Natsuya proofreads and gives him constructive feedback, making him slightly better for a while.  
  
Nao is about to refuse when he thinks – _maybe, why not?_ He can take a break, breathe and leave his dissertation aside and think about it later — his work has to rest, he needs to take a step back later then continue. He knows that, it’s the first tip he gives to the students he used to tutor. He’s been ignoring this process or at least, shortening it. He ends up accepting Natsuya’s proposition, then wondering on how he can keep himself busy for the day, before going to coach his students by the afternoon, then hang out with his friend.  
  
Reading is out of the question even if he really wants to start the novel he bought this month — his mind ends up drifting away and think about his dissertation. He doesn’t play any video games nor doesn’t feel the want to go outside and breathe some fresh air. Cooking seems to be the only solution left — however, to change from his usual pizzas or lasagna, he decides to bake a cake. He wondered which cake he will make since he doesn’t have a sweet tooth in the first place. A cheesecake sounds good to him and he knows he doesn’t need an oven to do one. He looks for easy recipes that seem to suit his tastes. He realises that he doesn’t have the necessary ingredients for a cheesecake so baking becomes a good reason to go outside and take a breath of the fresh air — he hasn’t been outside except to do his groceries once a week. Natsuya advised him to go outside to relieve his stress a few weeks ago but he didn’t take his advice seriously; he had just listened to it but never thought of doing it in practice, being too busy with his dissertation to go outside even if it’s the first thing he advises when his friends are stressed or restless before a tournament. He forgets that his pieces of advice also apply to him and that he doesn’t stress enough to the point of needing to go outside.  
  
The walk towards the grocery store is rather pleasing — the weather is just perfect, not too hot nor humid, the wind warm and clean and above all, the sky is a clear, vivid blue, with no clouds; the afternoon is going to be slightly hotter than now but it’s still going to be pleasant. It’s the kind of weather in the summer he enjoys the most and taking the time to go outside just for groceries feels no longer a chore nor a waste of time.  
  
He takes more time in the store to choose his products; since it’s quite early in the day, he is able to get fresh products and everything he wants from his list. Usually, he does the groceries at the end of the day, when he can enjoy discounts on products where the expiry date is approaching. As a student, it’s always better to enjoy discounts, but he has forgotten that choosing fresh products tastes better than nearly expired ones or frozen ones. He ends up spending thirty minutes more than usual, choosing carefully his products and thinking about what he wants to eat in the next few days— not just leftovers nor simple food, although he really likes cooking easily and quickly. When he’s back home, he’s satisfied to have his fridge and his cupboards full; it’s like having a stable life again, not living on the verge of something — waiting for all his food to finish before buying in bulk again.  
  
He puts on some relaxing music as a background sound to make his cheesecake — it’s not some relaxing study music playlist (he doesn’t listen to any music when studying) but an old playlist he used to have when he was still a first year. Some romantic classic music composers, sonatas and chamber music; more recently he is listening to concertos and has forgotten a little this old playlist. He follows the recipe, eventually changed the quantity for the sugar.

  
Preparing the crust and the cream only take a dozen minutes but he is so focused he thinks he took longer — he’s a bit disappointed when he realises that he has barely killed the time; he also realises that most of his stress was released thanks to cooking. After putting the cake in the fridge for the day, he fetches the novel he bought months ago that he was eager to read. He doesn’t feel like his mind is going to drift away and feels like reading. He then makes a comfy place on his bed to read and prepares some tea to relax and take his time to enjoy his book — he is planning on reading for at least one hour then it will be time for lunch.  
  
And he really read for one hour without taking his phone or feeling anxious about doing something else than working. It has been a great time but unfortunately, it’s time to cook for lunch and get ready to coach his students.  
  
Again, to take his time, he decides to follow a recipe — the recipe of an original carbonara pasta. It’s easy but he enjoys the idea of trying something new for lunch, feeling a bit fancier than usual. It’s just eating but making it more pleasant is an idea that his student-self never thought about seriously.  
  
Making the pasta in itself isn’t difficult but mixing the eggs with the pasta and the bacon is quite challenging — he has to make sure that they won’t turn into scrambled eggs. They don’t, fortunately and he enjoys his meal, taking the time to actually taste and not just eat because it was a vital necessity.  
  
He thinks of leaving his dishes in the sink after eating — after all, it’s empty and he will have plenty of time to do them; and washing the dishes was actually a great time killer and a way to empty his mind. Yet he still had time before going to the swimming pool, plus, that avoids him stressing because of a full sink of dirty dishes — it’s just more peaceful when things are tidy but sometimes, not doing the simplest and postpone it helps him relax. Especially now, he’s in a good mood.  
  
When he finishes, it’s already time to leave and he gathers his stuff, makes sure he forgets nothing and goes out towards the swimming pool without rushing. He’s never late and it’s the only thing that never stresses him — he always leaves at the perfect time, walks without jogging and arrives on time, a dozen minutes before his students, leaving him plenty of time to read through his comments made the week before.

  
  
•

  
  
Natsuya comes to pick him up — by car — soon after his coaching session. Nao thought that they would just hang out in the city, have a short walk to a café to have a chat but it seems that they were going to drive outside the city, either in the countryside or by the sea. It’s been a while since he last took him on a drive — a year ago — and he remembers how he drove, quite recklessly but in a somewhat safe way. After all, he’s mostly used to driving a bike, slaloming between the cars, feel free and let his mind wander even for a small journey. Driving a car and eventually get stuck in a traffic jam are his absolute nightmares. The fact that he has rented a car just for today makes Nao a little bit anxious, hopefully he has improved on his driving. He gets in the car and soon he takes the motorway towards the nearest seashore.  
  
They catch-up with their lives, Natsuya being busy with checking all the countries travel information for his next trip, eventually packing up gradually his stuff — Nao already knows this but is glad to hear that he’s about to leave soon for his next destination and that things are going pretty smoothly for him; at least, this is how he puts it together, he sometimes admits it’s a lot of research and work to get even the simplest thing done.  
  
His driving seems to have improved, being safer than it used to be a year ago, but maybe because there’s no car around — the motorway is pretty clear, it’s not yet the rush hour nor the holiday season. He misses driving; he hadn’t given much thought about driving actually but seeing Natsuya driving and enjoying holding the wheel makes him a bit envious of the feeling of controlling something — with all the accumulated stress of the past month, he feels like driving will help his mind being at peace and maybe get back a somewhat control on his emotions.  
  
While they’re talking about the Ikuya’s latest achievements, they arrive at the seashore where Natsuya manages to do parallel parking without struggling — he secretly thinks that parking with a bike is way easier and more instinctive than parking a whole car following the camera placed behind it that supposed to help him.  
  
They get off the car, immediately feel the salty breeze and hear children playing along the beach — this change of environment already relaxes him and as they take off their shoes to walk along the beach, he’s glad that Natsuya takes him out of his room, his city and his routine. He no longer worries about his dissertation and the possible hundreds of edits he has to do on his return. Yet, deep in mind, silently, he still worries about it — he was looking for some peace of mind coming here but he can’t completely let go of his routine.  
  
“Nao, you can talk to me, you know,” Natsuya mumbles, gazing at the ocean.  
  
Surprised at his offer, Nao smiles. He always knows he is the one he can talk to whatever happens but somehow, he never considered it.  
  
“I may not be able to fully understand you or empathise but if I can help...”  
“I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you. I’ve been stressing a lot and I... It’s not something I like to talk about.”  
  
He’s more on the listening side — whenever his teammates felt down, he senses it and immediately goes to talk to them, listen to their feelings and worries then choose carefully his words to reassure and motivate them. It’s second nature and although he is the one finding solutions for others, sometimes, he is not the best when it comes to himself.

  
“I know, it’s not an easy thing to do... But you’ve always been listening to me, all my complains and rants. I just want to let you know that you can rant to me too, that I’ll never judge you nor—“  
“Thank you. I’ve been stressing a lot, you know, and I thought maybe, that I’m overthinking, and no one stresses like I am, like... For example, the simple thought of leaving a typo is just the end of the world to me... or you know, not doing things correctly is just... you know, your self-esteem goes down and you can’t get away from this thought. I just think that I’m just bad at managing my emotions and that I’m not as good as I want to... Do I make sense?”  
“Yeah, no worries. I get that, but you know, your feelings are legit. I haven’t written a dissertation, but I see and understand how much of yourself you’re putting in your work and want it to be as perfect as possible— represent your thoughts and knowledge in the best way possible. I don’t think you’re dramatising, and you shouldn’t worry about it— everybody has different levels of stress and no one stresses in the same way for the same reason. I don’t think you’re bad at managing your emotions, like... you don’t write dissertations as often to get used to that— like you wrote one for your undergraduate degree, but ever since now, you didn’t write big pieces of academic writing... Like you didn’t have a sort of “practice” to handle the stress of that dissertation... it’s understandable, it shows how much you want to submit a piece of work you’re proud of.”  
“But I did write a dissertation before...” Nao corrected. “And I wasn’t stressing like now. I just got bad at managing stress?” he scoffs.  
“You’re coaching students and one of them got injured before a competition, that didn’t happen for your undergraduate degree. There are many factors to your stress and it’s legit. I’m always here if you need to talk or listen to you.”  
“Thank you.”  
  
He remembers Natsuya ranting about his visa applications and other administrative messes before going swimming abroad — all the paperwork and packing his stuff drove him crazy at some point, the process being awfully and unexpectedly draining. _All I have to do is wait_ , he said, waiting for all the papers to be ready and signed and finish packing his stuff in the meantime. He was so worried about his official papers that he wasn’t in the mood of doing anything — therefore being stressed because of doing nothing but if he did something, he would think of something else that needed to be done; an endless loop of worries.  
  
“Was I helpful?”  
“Yeah. Thanks.” Being told that his emotions were legit relieved him; he remembers himself saying the same words to his students and that even though he thinks he can manage it, sometimes it’s _just too much_.  
“You know how I was stressing when I went backpacking to swim across the world... not on my papers actually but packing my stuff, making sure that I have the right dates on my hostels reservations, that I paid my entry to the competition, that you know, everything was in order before I leave. I’m still not used to actually,” he scoffs. “I still stress a lot and feel like it’s the end of the world sometimes. But it’s okay, I think that’s how we become more resistant to stress.”  
“Such wise words,” Nao teases; after all Natsuya is the big brother, he’s used to concealing his stress – Nao is the one that makes him talk whenever he’s stressed or down.  
“Well, the next time you’ll have a big piece of work to do, you’ll be stronger and won’t stress as much as you’re doing,” Natsuya said after a pout.  
“I hope so!”  
  
The sun is setting very soon — the sky is red and yellow, the sea breeze is cooler than when they arrived and they hear fewer children playing around. The scenery is more relaxing than any music or a mindless nap and walking bare feet on the sand is rather pleasant, even if he’s going to struggle to clean them before putting on his shoes.

“Can I drive on our way back?” Nao asks, feeling like driving, confident on his skills.  
“Was I a bad driver?” Natsuya pouts.  
“No,” he says, and he’s sincere – he has improved. “I just want to, some people feel relaxed when they drive.”  
“True! Sure you can!”

They walk along the beach on their way back to the car. Before they get in, they make sure to get rid of the sand (or the renting company is going to charge them for cleaning) and finally, Nao is driving, windows opened to feel the salty breeze and he enjoys the sunset on the sea from the corner of his eyes. Now, he’s determined to submit his dissertation, without any stress and if he does, he will ask Natsuya for feedback.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is just basically my comfort fic like... in July I stressed so much and ugh, I had no one to hang out with and really talk to face-to-face in a really relaxing atmosphere like.. you know
> 
> Basically spent the month calling my mother and saying how much I could hardly handle the stress but she said "it's okay, you're legit that will make you stronger" and I was like "ugh no, I'm weak I wanna go home omg I wanna relax" - she's really nice and I'm glad she was able to understand me but I really wanted to have a friend I could hang out somewhere and just have a nice day with them but hey, no one was there, everybody back home/on holidays.
> 
> It's nearly the end of my holidays, I didn't do much other than reading, sleeping and eating very well (my parents' cooking >>>), and in the end, I didn't really hang out much with my friends, very unmotivated to move my ass to the sea nor going outside in general ahaha
> 
> and I found some inspiration recently to write a fic ahahaha but I can't guarantee the quality of it lol see you next year for the fic I guess


End file.
